Ode to the Family
by KepnerAvery
Summary: In an ever changing and evolving world the doctors of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital are forced to evaluate what the word Family means to them. Calzona, Benley, MerDer, Japril, and Jolex. An examination of the modern family in five parts.
1. Sofia

**A/N: Hello! This is going to be the first installment of a longer series on Grey's families. Each chapter will focus on one family as they explore what makes them who they are. Chapters will go in the order that the children first appeared (with Jolex and their hypothetical children last). So first up is the Robbins-Torres family.**

"Mama, can you help me with my homework?"

Arizona couldn't help but be a little bit surprised as Sofia sat next to her at the table with a composition book and pencil in hand. Now eight years old the little girl had developed an independent streak that, while preferable to a constant need for attention, often found her at odds with her mothers. Most nights she chose to do her homework at the desk in her room. For her to not only come out and sit in the dining room, but ask for help, was virtually unheard of.

"Sure Sof," she said, setting her own work aside, "what is it?"

Sofia set the composition book on the table and flipped to the page where she had neatly printed a writing prompt across the top line.

_Describe your family. Do you have a big family or a small family? Who is in your family? How does your family show you that they love you?_

"How do we show you that we love you? Seriously?" Arizona mumbled too quietly for Sofia to understand.

"That part is due on Friday" Sofia explained unfazed, "Ms. Evans said that tonight we just have to draw a family tree. I tried to do it during afterschool, but I got confused."

"What did you get confused about?"

Sofia frowned, staring at the page in front of her and tracing shapes on it with her eraser.

"Sofia, I can't help you if you don't tell me what you're confused about."

"I didn't know where to draw my daddy."

Arizona felt her heart plunge as Sofia turned back one page to show her the family tree. It was a print-out that she had glued in with four boxes for grandparents, two for parents below that, and a number of boxes branching off for the student and their siblings. She could see that Sofia had tried to draw an extra box for Mark, but didn't know how to connect it to the rest of the chart. Part of her wondered what the teacher had been thinking giving them such a limited chart, and she made a mental note to send an angry e-mail as soon as Sofia was in bed.

"Well," she said finally, "your daddy is your parent too, so you can connect him to me and Mommy."

"That's what I thought," Sofia said, "but David said that you can only have two parents, because only two people can make a baby together."

Now it was Arizona's turn to frown as she tried to decide the best way to explain their situation. She and Callie had agreed on a complete honesty policy with their children, but this was the first time Sofia had really questioned her parentage. She had always just accepted that she had two mommies and a daddy who was in heaven.

Thankfully Callie chose that moment to come into the room, looking pleasantly surprised to find Sofia out and interacting.

"Excuse me," she said with a teasing smile, sitting across from Arizona and Sofia, "Why wasn't I invited to this homework party?"

Sofia giggled, oblivious to the warning look Arizona was shooting Callie across the table.

"Little Miss here needs some help with her family tree," Arizona explained, giving Sofia a pat on the back, "Why don't you show Mommy?"

Sofia slid the book across the table to Callie and pointed to the square she had drawn for Mark.

"I didn't know where to draw daddy."

Callie's eyes lingered for a long moment on the page, and even from across the table Arizona could tell that she was trying to hold herself together.

"It looks like you got it right," she said finally, looking up at Sofia with a small smile, "Daddy goes right there with me and Mama."

"See?" Arizona chimed in as she noticed Sofia studying Callie's face with concern, "You were right all along."

"But David said that you can only have two real parents because only two people can make a baby!"

"Maybe David should mind his own business," Callie grumbled.

"What Mommy meant to say," Arizona said, "Is that everyone's family is different. Right?"

"Right, yes," Callie sniffled slightly as she nodded, "It's true that only two people can make a baby, but just making a baby doesn't make you a parent."

Sofia seemed to consider this, pursing her lips almost comically as she turned the information over in her head.

"Is it like how Jamie carried Parker in her belly and then gave him to our family?"

"Exactly," Arizona said, "Jamie helped us make Parker because Mommy and I couldn't do it alone, but we're still his mommies."

"Okay," Sofia nodded, convinced. Reaching across the table she took her composition book back from Callie and drew a line connecting the box she had made for Mark to the designated parent boxes. When she was done she looked up at Callie and frowned.

"Mommy, why do you get so sad when we talk about Daddy?"

Arizona bit her lip as she watched Callie's face fall. She had been trying to hold herself together, but as she was getting older Sofia was getting more perceptive. Fake smiles and pretending to be okay wasn't cutting it anymore.

Callie sighed, refusing to make eye contact with Arizona. She knew that if she did she'd lose it completely, and Sofia was watching her, waiting for an answer.

"I loved your daddy very much Sofia," Callie started shakily, she could practically hear Mark in her ear telling her to keep it together, "and sometimes when someone you love very much dies it can be sad to talk about them."

"Why? Don't you want to remember him?"

Before Callie could answer she was interrupted by crying from the nursery. Arizona slipped quietly out of the room, leaving Callie and Sofia alone.

"I don't ever want to forget your Daddy," Callie said when Parker's crying stopped and she couldn't stall any longer, "It's just… You know how sometimes when you have playdates with Zola you get upset when she has to go home?"

Sofia nodded, "I just wish we could play together forever!"

"Well that's how I feel about your daddy," Callie explained, "I wanted to be able to spend more time with him, but he had to go home to God in heaven."

A look of understanding appeared on Sofia's face as she tried to imagine what it would be like to never have another playdate with Zola. As her own eyes filled with tears she ran around the table, climbing into Callie's lap and hugging her tightly around the neck.

"It'll be okay Mommy," she said after a moment, pulling back to look Callie in the eye very seriously, "you'll see Daddy again when you go to heaven. He's waiting for us there with Auntie Lexie, remember?"

Callie laughed, using the arm she wasn't embracing Sofia with to wipe away tears.

"I remember. They're probably up there thinking we're silly for being so impatient. I bet they're laughing because they know we're going to see them again so we don't need to be sad."

Sofia giggled and nodded, throwing her head back to address the ceiling,

"Don't you laugh at us Daddy and Lexie! 'Cause when we get up there we'll put you in time out for being mean!"

Just as suddenly as she had started crying Callie found herself grinning, pulling Sofia close to her and kissing her on the head.

"I love you so much baby girl."

"I love you too mommy," Sofia replied, kissing Callie on the cheek, "Will you read me a bedtime story?"

"Of course, go get your PJs on and I'll be right in okay?"

"Okay."

Sofia hopped down from Callie's lap and skipped off towards her bedroom. Once she heard the door click shut Callie sighed, taking a moment to dry the last of her tears with her sleeves. When she had finally regained her composure she stood to go read Sofia her story, then paused briefly and smirked, tilting her face upwards.

"Don't you laugh at me Mark Sloan, I'll be up there with you someday."

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please review and keep an eye out for the next chapter, which will hopefully be up sometime in the next couple of days. :)**


	2. Tuck

**A/N: Hi again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad everyone is liking it so far :) Someone pointed out to me that I forgot to include Benley, so I decided to sneak them in next even though Tuck came way before Sofia on the show. Thanks to cintiamcr for pointing out my oversight.**

"Tuck, are you ready to go?"

"Just a minute mom!"

Tuck Jones quickly added the final detail to the card he was making and hid it in the bottom of his sock drawer, careful to make sure that not even the corner poked out. He was determined not to ruin the surprise, and even took a moment to wash the crayon dust off of his hands before heading downstairs.

"I'm rea-" Tuck froze at the bottom of the stairs, trying not to show his disappointment when he saw Ben standing in the living room with his mother, "Oh."

Ben recognized the look of apprehension on Tuck's face and resisted the urge to frown. There had been a lot of apprehension when he and Miranda had first started dating, but that was to be expected. Tuck had been a lot younger then, and he didn't understand why his Mom was suddenly spending all of her time with a man who wasn't his Dad. Over time the apprehension had turned into acceptance, and eventually they had fallen into an easy father-son relationship. So the sudden reappearance of that apprehensive look found Ben proceeding with caution.

"Hey man," he started with a friendly smile, "My last surgery got cancelled so I got out of work early. Is it okay if I go out with you and your mom tonight?"

Miranda did frown as Tuck hesitated, burying his hands deep in his pockets.

"I, uh..."

"What's wrong Tuck?"

"Nothing," Tuck stared at the floor as his face started to feel hot, "I just don't want to goshopping anymore."

"Well tomorrow is Father's Day, I thought you wanted to get your dad a gift?"

"I'll just make him something."

Ben finally let his face drop as Tuck avoided looking at him or his mother. He nudged Miranda, mouthing "I'll stay home", but she just shook her head. They had been on opposite schedules all week, and she was finally looking forward to spending some time together. There was something off about the way Tuck was acting, and she knew if she pressed hard enough she could figure out what it was.

"Do you feel sick?" she asked, walking over to Tuck and putting her hand on his forehead, but he ducked away.

"No! I just don't want to go!"

"We can play lazer tag after you get something for your dad," Ben offered, ignoring the look Miranda gave him.

"I don't want to."

"What's wrong Tuck? Afraid I'll kick your butt?"

Finally Tuck snapped, looking up at Miranda and Ben with angry tears in his eyes.

"I don't want to go shopping with you!"

Before either of them could say another word he stormed up the stairs and ran back to his room, slamming the door behind himself.

"What has gotten into that boy?" Miranda asked, turning to Ben in disbelief. He shrugged, trying to keep an even face to hide his disappointment. He respected Tuck's right to want to spend time just with his parents, but as someone who had started to feel like another parent to him it was still hurtful.

"He hasn't seen you all week, he probably just wants some time to hang out one-on-one."

Miranda scoffed, "He's a nine year old boy, he never wants to 'hang out one-on-one' with me. You were here with him last night, was he okay then?"

"He was fine, really excited to be going out with you tonight," Ben put his hands on her shoulders, managing a reassuring smile, "Look, I'll go talk to him, okay? I'll go apologize for inviting myself along and then you two can go out, and maybe when you get home the three of us can watch a movie. Sound good?"

She hesitated for a moment, searching his face for a crack in his otherwise understanding demeanor, but if there was one he was hiding it well. Finally, she sighed.

"Alright."

Ben gave her a quick kiss, then headed up the stairs and down the hallway to Tuck's room, knocking at the door.

"Hey Tuck, it's Ben, can I come in?"

"I guess." was the muffled reply, so he opened the door, standing in the doorway. Tuck looked up from where he sat on the bed, his face a mixture of sadness and guilt.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he offered, but Ben waved the apology away.

"Don't worry about it, I get it, you just want to hang out with your mom. It's alright, you two should go out tonight so you can get a present for your dad, I'll hang out here."

"It's not that," Tuck sighed, "I just didn't want to ruin the surprise!"

"What surprise?"

Tuck sighed, realizing that there was no way he was going to be able to pull off his surprise so he may as well just give up. He walked over to his dresser and opened the sock drawer, pulling out the card he had made earlier and handing it to Ben.

As Ben took the card from Tuck he could actually feel his heart swelling with pride. On the front beneath the words "Happy Father's Day!" he had drawn a picture of the two of them, both wearing scrubs and doctor's coats. The inside of the card read "Thanks for being an awesome step-dad. Maybe when I grow up we can scrub in together sometime". The sentiment made Ben laugh as he pulled Tuck in for a hug.

"Tuck this is great," he said as Tuck pulled back and looked up at him waiting for his response, "This really means a lot to me."

"I wanted to get you a present too," Tuck explained, "That's why I didn't want you to go shopping with me and Mom. I was going to give it to you when we got back, since I'll be with my Dad tomorrow."

Ben grinned, "Do you know what the best present would be?"

"What?"

"Getting to kick your butt at lazer tag."

Tuck laughed, following Ben out of his room and back down the hallway.

"Fine, but you're not going to kick my butt!"

"We'll see about that."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review and I will keep working on the Merder chapter. It should be up by the end of the week, so keep an eye out for it! :)**


	3. Zola

**A/N: Hi! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it's really the positive feedback that keeps me inspired to keep writing :) This chapter is probably my favorite so far, so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

"Bailey, Zola, can we talk to the two of you for a minute?"

Zola dropped the lego she had been about to add to her skyscraper as her mother came into the living room and sat down on the rug near where Bailey was playing with his trains. It was unusual, and while her four year old brother was quick to climb into his mother's lap in excitement, Zola knew well enough to be suspicious. After all her father was sitting on the couch with the look he always got when he was about to pretend bad news was actually good news. The last time he had gotten that look on his face he'd cancelled their fishing trip and taken her to see Aunt Lizzie instead.

"It's okay Zo," Meredith said, noticing the troubled expression on her daughter's face, "You're not in trouble."

She patted a seat next to her on the rug, and Zola took a few hesitant steps towards her, choosing to sit just a bit further away.

"Are we going to visit Aunt Lizzie again?"

Derek laughed at that, taking care to lighten the expression on his face as he answered, "No, we're not going to visit Aunt Lizzie again. Not any time soon."

This seemed to satisfy Zola, and she turned her attention back to Meredith as she took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face.

"We were wondering," she started, anxiety rising in her chest as Bailey turned to stare up at her with his big blue eyes, "How you two would feel about having another little brother or sister."

In the silence that followed you could have heard a pin drop from a mile away. Zola looked between her mother's forced smile and her father's pleasant questioning look, her own face a blank slate. Bailey's eyebrows knitted together and after a moment of thought his lips turned down in a frown.

"Will I have to share my trains?"

Meredith chuckled, giving Bailey a squeeze.

"Eventually, yes, but if there's two of you that means two times the trains."

"More trains?" He asked, his face lighting up.

"If you get any more trains you'll have enough to start your own railroad," Derek quipped, but his sarcasm was lost on Bailey, who was already squirming out of Meredith's grasp.

"Sounds good to me!" He shouted happily, finally freeing himself and running back to his toys. Meredith and Derek shared a look, smirking at their son's total nonchalance in the face of having a new sibling. It took a moment before either of them noticed the tears welling up in Zola's eyes.

"Oh Zola, what's wrong?" Meredith asked after what felt like an eternity to the little girl, reaching out and putting a comforting hand on her knee.

"Are you pregnant?" Zola sniffled. She barely remembered her mother being pregnant with Bailey, but she sort of remembered when her Aunt April had been pregnant with her cousin Cece, and she was pretty sure if her mom was pregnant she should be able to tell. As far as she understood pregnancy began when you started looking like you were hiding a basketball under your shirt. So Meredith's response hardly surprised her.

"No sweetie, Daddy and I have been talking about maybe adopting another baby like we adopted you."

But even though it was the answer she was expecting, Zola couldn't help but jerk her body away from her mother as she began to cry hot angry tears. When she reached to hold her Zola slapped her hands away, knowing better than to hit her mother, but too caught up in the moment to care. It was only when she felt her father's strong hands grasping her under her armpits that she stopped fighting and let him lift her into his lap.

"Zozo, can you tell me what's wrong?" He asked gently, holding her as she turned and buried her face into his chest, tears wetting his shirt.

She couldn't tell him what was wrong. She couldn't find the words to explain the way that it felt like a giant hole had just appeared in her stomach. Her head kept replaying the memory of Jeremy Atkins from her swim class telling her that every time parents had a baby they started loving their other kids less. He had four younger siblings, and Zola couldn't help but notice that his Mom yelled at him a lot more than the other moms yelled at their kids. She was lucky, he had told her, that it was just her and Bailey.

Except now it wouldn't be.

"Don't you love me anymore?" Zola whimpered finally, lifting her head from Derek's chest and searching his eyes for reassurance.

"Of course we love you Zo," he replied, kissing her on the forehead, "just because we might adopt another baby doesn't mean we're going to love you any less."

"We have so much love for you and your brother," Meredith chimed in, joining them on the couch and taking Zola's hand in her own and giving it a squeeze, "and if we have another baby our love is just going to grow even bigger."

"Jeremy says when parents have a new baby they love their other kids less."

"I think Jeremy is a little mixed up," she offered, smiling when she felt Zola squeeze her hand back. The little girl sniffled, resting her head back against Derek's chest as he rubbed small soothing circles on her back.

"But why do you want another baby?"

"Well sweetie, there are a lot of the babies in the world who need a home and a family," Derek began to explain. Zola relaxed a little, comforted by the vibration of his voice in his chest.

"And some of those babies have a hard time finding families," Meredith picked up, "because they're sick or they need surgeries."

"Like when I was a baby?"

Meredith nodded, "Just like when you were a baby. A lot of families are afraid that they can't take care of babies who need surgery, so they don't adopt them."

Zola was quiet for a moment, turning that information over in her mind. She wondered what would have happened if her parents hadn't met her at the hospital. They'd told her the story about how her Uncle Alex brought her over to have surgery and they fell in love with her at first sight, but she had never thought about what would have happened if they had never met her. Would she have been adopted? Or would she still be waiting for a family that wasn't afraid to take care of her?

"We should adopt one of those babies," she declared finally, looking between her parents faces as they smiled down at her.

"Yeah? That sounds good to you?" Derek asked. Zola nodded decisively.

"Yeah because you're good at taking care of sick babies. You took care of me!"

He chuckled, "That's true, we did."

"And I can help take care of the new baby. I'll read it stories and hold its hand when it has to get shots so it doesn't get scared."

"That sounds perfect Zo," Meredith said, releasing her hand so she could stroke her hair lovingly.

"There's just one thing," Zola replied, shaking away Meredith's hand and giving both of her parents a deathly serious look.

"What's that?"

"It needs to be a girl."

Across the room Bailey let out a screech as he crashed one of his trains through Zola's lego skyscraper, sending it toppling to the ground and shattering into pieces. Meredith and Derek caught each other's eye, matching smirks growing on their faces as they nodded in unison.

"I think you might be onto something there."

"We will definitely consider that."

**A/N: Once again, thank you for reading! Reviews are, as always, much appreciated. Next chapter will be Japril, and I'm hoping to get it up some time early in the week so keep an eye out for it!**


	4. Clara

**A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay, it took me a few tries to get this chapter going in the direction I wanted it to. But thanks again for all of the reviews! Without further ado, here's the Avery family!**

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Clara."

April smiled distractedly at the new daycare worker, catching her daughter's eye across the playroom. The little girl grinned excitedly, hopping up from the table she had been coloring at and running to go get her bag. She had just hit a growth spurt, and watching her run was like watching a baby giraffe learning to control is gangly limbs. The sight was so adorable that April almost didn't hear the question the new worker asked.

"Are you her nanny?"

Her eyes snapped to the young woman in front of her, smile disappearing as she tried to convince herself that she really hadn't heard what she had said.

"Excuse me?"

The woman gestured to the sign out sheet on the clipboard in her hand,

"I'm only authorized to sign Clara out to her parents."

For a moment April could only stare in complete disbelief, noting that the woman must have only been in her early twenties, probably a college student brought on to help with the busy summer months. Still, it hardly excused the way she stared condescendingly, waiting for an answer.

"That's correct," April said finally, fighting to keep her voice even, "I'm her mother."

The woman, still a girl really, shrugged as she checked Clara off on her list.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realize she was adopted."

It felt like a blow to the stomach, and April moved a hand instinctively to her baby bump as her jaw dropped in outrage.

"Excuse me?"

The girl only raised her eyebrows in response, and April prepared herself to give her a piece of her mind when there was a sudden tug on her arm. She looked down in surprise, forgetting the girl entirely as Clara stared up at her with worried green eyes.

How long had she been standing there?

"Mama?"

"Let's go sweetie," April cut in quickly, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her out of the daycare. The little girl trotted alongside her mother anxiously.

"Mama," she whined, hanging off of April's arm as they headed towards the hospital lobby.

"What's up sugarplum?"

"Am I adopted?"

April stopped dead in her tracks, swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat before turning to Clara. The little girl clung to April's hands with both of her own, staring up at her mother with eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"No sweetie," April said with a small smile, tucking a loose curl behind her daughter's ear, "You're not adopted. The lady in the daycare was just confused."

Clara still frowned, "But why did she think that?"

"I'm not sure," April lied, "But she was wrong. Now let's go find Daddy, okay?"

"Okay."

Clara looked down at her feet, still upset, but April continued to lead her down the hallway. She didn't know how to explain to her daughter that the reason the daycare worker assumed she was adopted was because she thought that April was too white to have a dark skinned child. Or that Clara was too dark to have a white mother. Either way, it was a conversation that was going to have to wait until they got home and she had a chance to let Jackson know what had happened. Luckily their schedules had actually lined up for once, and as April and Clara entered the lobby Clara spotted her father across the room and ran excitedly into his waiting arms.

"Daddy!"

She squealed as Jackson lifted her high into the air and brought her back down against his chest, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey there Cece," He said with a grin as April caught up to them, "Did you have a good day?"

Clara nodded, wrapping her arms around her father's neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Jackson's smile dropped as he looked to April for some kind of explanation. Usually Clara was a ball of energy, talking nonstop about her day and insisting on racing her parents to the car. But now she was clinging to him for dear life, actually letting him carry her out of the hospital and to their car. April's only explanation was a murmured "I'll tell you when we get home" after he had buckled Clara into her car seat.

The ride home was quiet with April and Clara lost in their own thoughts. It was unnerving for Jackson to see them that way when he was so used to noisy car rides where Clara chattered on and on about her adventures at daycare and April sang along with the radio and he reached back at red lights to tickle Clara, sending them all into fits of laughter as she filled the car with her happy squeaks.

By the time they got back to their house he felt like he was going to explode from the tension. It took all that he had to wait for Clara to run to put her things away in her room before he started questioning April.

"Did something happen at daycare?"

April sighed, taking a seat at the kitchen island and resting both hands on her stomach as she bit back the feeling of embarrassment that came with thinking about what had happened.

"The new girl thought that I was Clara's nanny," she said finally, refusing to make eye contact with Jackson, "And when I said that I was her mother she said 'Sorry, I didn't know she was adopted'".

Jackson found himself momentarily speechless, rage pooling in his stomach. He would go down to the daycare himself in the morning and make sure the stupid girl who had been so rude wouldn't have the opportunity to make the same mistake with another family. Then he noticed tears pooling in April's eyes and pushed away his anger, walking over to where she sat and pulling her into his arms.

"People are idiots," he mumbled against her hair as April rest her head against his chest, agreeing with a quiet hum.

"Clara overheard the second part," April said with a sigh, "I told her she's not adopted, but she still seemed pretty upset about it. I just didn't know what to tell her."

"I don't know."

Just then Clara poked her head into the kitchen hesitantly, taking a few steps in when both of her parents responded with warm smiles.

"Can I have a snack?"

"Sure sugarplum," Jackson responded, picking her up and lifting her onto the seat next to April at the island, "Do you want an apple?"

"Yes please."

"You got it."

As Jackson busied himself washing and cutting up the apple, Clara turned to April with a very serious look on her face.

"Mama," she said, "I think I know why that lady thought I was adopted."

Jackson looked up from cutting the apple and caught April's eye. The two exchanged a nervous look before April turned her attention back to Clara.

"Why's that?"

"'Cause of we're different colors."

April raised her eyebrows in surprise at how perceptive Clara was for a five year old. When she didn't respond immediately, Clara continued talking.

"When we drew family pictures Bailey drew Zola and Imani different colors because they're adopted," she explained, "So maybe the lady thought I was adopted because I'm a different color from you."

"I think you're right sweetheart," April said finally with a nod.

"That's probably going to happen a lot as you're growing up," Jackson added, placing the plate with the apple in front of Clara and leaning on the counter, "Sometimes people get confused when they see a kid who doesn't have the same skin color as one of their parents, and they jump to conclusions."

The little girl frowned, biting into an apple slice.

"But why do I look like you and not Mama?"

"That is a really good question. When two people with different skin colors make a baby, the baby usually comes out a mix of their skin colors. So your skin is a little bit lighter than mine..."

Jackson placed his hand on the counter, and Clara placed hers next to it for comparison.

"And a little bit darker than mine," April chimed in, placing her hand on the other side of Clara's. As the little girl examined their hands all lined up April and Jackson exchanged a smile across the countertop. Finally, Clara pulled her hand back.

"I get it," she announced solemnly, turning to face April again, "but I want to be like you Mama!"

April laughed, "You are like me silly girl. Just because we don't have the same skin color doesn't mean we're not alike."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," April bopped Clara on the nose, eliciting a giggle, "You have the same nose that I had when I was younger."

"You both have the same smile," Jackson added, feeling his heart swell when he was met with two grins and matching dimples.

"We both have curly hair?" Clara suggested, blowing a loose curl out of her face as April chuckled and nodded.

"And we both like apples," she said, stealing an apple slice from Clara and popping it in her mouth.

"Hey!" Clara giggled, swatting her mother's arm and biting into her own slice. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then started up talking again.

"Do you think the baby likes apples too?" She asked, gesturing towards April's stomach.

"I sure hope so," April replied with a laugh, causing Jackson to smirk as well as he snuck an apple slice of his own.

"Will the baby look like me?"

"He might," Jackson answered, "some of his features will look the same, and some will look different."

"Because he's a boy?"

"Partially, and partially because siblings don't always look exactly alike."

"Janey and Adam don't look exactly alike, and they're twins," April added. Clara nodded in agreement- her cousins couldn't be more different if they tried. This information seemed to satisfy her, but just as April and Jackson thought the stream of questions was over, she came up with just one more.

"How'd the baby get in your tummy Mama?"

April began choking on her apple as Jackson's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open to answer, but nothing came out. When she regained control of her windpipe April laughed nervously,

"Well sweetie, you know, it's all very complicated..."

"Yeah, very complicated," Jackson agreed, nodding his head up and down like a bobblehead. Clara looked between her parents, bewildered by their bizarre responses.

"You guys are weird," she announced finally, hopping down from her seat, "I'll go call Nana Catherine and ask her."

As she ran from the room April couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Should we stop her?" Jackson asked, fighting back a grin. April shrugged,

"I think we've met our difficult question quota of the day, she can handle this one."

"And that's why I love you"

Jackson leaned over the counter, cupping April's cheek and pulling her in for a kiss. His lips smiled against hers as the sound of Clara's voice carried in from the other room.

"Nana Catherine? It's Clara. I have a really important question to ask you..."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome as I'm working on the final chapter! Keep an eye out for it later this week, featuring the future family of Jo and Alex :)**


	5. Janey and Adam

**A/N: Hi! Sorry this took longer than expected, I wanted to get it just right. As always thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially those of you who have been following this story from the beginning and have stuck with me through it! Here's the Karev family!**

"What has gotten into you two today?"

Janey Karev didn't look up at the sound of her mother's voice. She kept her eyes fixed to her almost empty dinner plate, using her fork to mash her peas into a sticky green paste. Across the table her twin brother Adam peered up from his own plate just long enough to study her reaction. Then he turned his eyes back down and mimicked her actions, keeping his mouth shut tightly.

Above their line of vision Jo shot Alex a look of desperation, which he met with a frown and a shrug. He couldn't deny that the twins were acting weird, but he didn't know what to do about it. They had barely spoken two words since he had picked them up from their after school program, sulking quietly in their room until dinner when Jo had almost had to physically drag them to the dinner table. Something was wrong, he knew that, but he also knew that Janey was as stubborn as he was, and Adam would follow her lead.

"Did something happen at school today?" Jo pressed, unwilling to be shut out by a pair of six year olds. Adam's head shot up, and Janey must have seen the movement because a second later he shouted in pain and surprise as she kicked him under the table.

"Hey, don't kick your brother," Alex said, causing the little girl to glare guiltily up at him, "What happened at school?"

"Nothing," she said, mashing her peas harder into the plate. Alex and Jo shared a knowing look as he turned his attention to Adam.

"What happened at school big guy?"

Adam fidgeted in his seat, looking nervously between his parents and his sister. He didn't like to lie, but with their parents attention away from her, Janey was glaring at him to keep his mouth shut.

"School was fine." Adam lied finally, shoveling a forkful of rice into his mouth to hide his guilty look. Janey returned her gaze to her plate as she felt Jo's eyes turn back to her.

"So if I look in your backpack I won't find a note from your teacher?"

That seemed to do the trick as Janey dropped her fork and tilted her head forward so her long curly hair covered her face.

"Janey Cristina Karev, answer your mother," Alex said sternly. Janey didn't move, didn't make a sound.

"Janey-"

"It wasn't her fault!"

Jo and Alex both turned in surprise at Adam's outburst. The little boy looked equally surprised as he fought back tears.

"Shut up!" Janey screamed, slamming her fists on the table.

"Molly was lying," Adam cried, "she said-"

"Shut up!" Janey screamed again, standing up on her chair. Adam burst into tears and Jo collected him into her arms as Alex grabbed Janey around the middle, pulling her against his chest as she kicked and screamed.

"Calm down," he said quietly, embracing her tightly as she pounded her small fists against him in protest, "What did Molly say?"

"She said no one loves us," Adam sniffled from Jo's lap. Alex and Jo exchanged baffled looks across the table, each one trying to make sense of why another child would say that to their children.

"Do you know why she said that?" Jo asked gently, brushing her son's shaggy hair away from his face. He nodded solemnly,

"We were supposed to be making cards for grandparents day, but Janey told Ms. Adams that me and her don't have grandparents 'cause you don't know your parents and Daddy doesn't talk to his. And Molly said it's because they don't love you and if your parents don't love you then you don't really love us. And then she said no one loves us 'cause we don't have any family."

Jo bit back tears, hugging Adam tightly,

"Oh Buddy, we love you so much,'' she mumbled against his hair, refusing to make eye contact with Alex because she knew she'd be in tears if she did.

Meanwhile Janey had stopped fighting Alex and was staring up at him with watery brown eyes.

"You know Mommy and I love you, right?"

Janey nodded, but sniffled back tears.

"I called Molly a freakin' liar and pushed her desk on top of her."

Alex couldn't help but chuckle, and he noticed that Jo was also fighting back a smile.

"I bet Ms. Adams wasn't too happy about that, was she?"

Janey shook her head, pressing her hands to her eyes as she finally lost her fight against tears.

"But she is a liar!" the little girl sobbed, "even if we don't have no other family you still love us!"

"Of course we do," Alex assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she now willingly leaned into his embrace, "Kids are just jerks."

"We're kids," Adam pointed out as Jo raised her eyebrows at Alex, who rolled his eyes in response.

"Yeah, well you two are the exception."

Janey and Adam both giggled, and even Jo let out a small chuckle as she shook her head at her husband. Then her face grew very serious,

"You two know that you do have other family, right?" She asked, catching both of the kids' attention. They looked at each other, confused.

"But we never see Daddy's brother and sister," Adam said after a moment, not noticing when Alex cringed and Jo shot him a quick apologetic look before turning her attention back to their son,

"No, that's true, but what about your family at the hospital?"

"Molly said that family has to be related to you," Janey replied sadly, "She said friends don't count."

"I thought we weren't listening to Molly anymore," Alex grumbled, tickling Janey on the stomach and sending her into a fit of laughter. When she calmed down he continued, "What do you think family means?"

Janey and Adam grew quiet then, Janey's face scrunching up in concentration as she focused on the question while Adam's went slack and he got a far out look in his eyes. After a long moment they both piped up at the same time,

"I think-" they both started, then looked at each other in surprise. Alex and Jo laughed while they did a quick rock paper scissors to decide who would speak first. Janey smashed Adam's scissors with her fist, then started over.

"I think family is people who love you."

"Even when you're a jerk," Adam added, earning a nod of approval from his sister.

"So who loves you even when you're a jerk?" Jo asked, side eyeing Alex for putting the word in their heads, but not willing to split hairs about it. Adam hummed, thinking, but Janey popped right up with excitement,

"Oh, oh, I know! Auntie April! 'Cause she still fixes me up when I get hurt even though I bit Cece."

Alex frowned, "You bit Cece?"

"Yes," Janey said seriously, "But it's okay because she still loves me too. So Auntie April and Cece are family!"

"And Uncle Jackson!" Adam piped up, "He forgave us when we put frogs in his shoes."

This was news to Alex and Jo, but not to Janey who nodded,

"That's true. So if they're all family probably Jack-Jack will be too when he's older. Right Daddy?"

"Uh, yeah, right," Alex agreed, still trying to figure out when his kids would have had the opportunity to hide frogs in Avery's shoes.

"What about Uncle Derek?" Adam suggested, "He and Bailey taught me how to fish, and when I was sad 'cause I didn't catch anything he said it was okay and we can go again sometime."

"Yeah, and Auntie Meredith and Zola. They helped me ride my bike without training wheels!"

Alex felt a slight twinge in his eyes at that memory. Janey had been so determined to ride her bike like a "big girl", but neither he or Jo knew how to ride a bike at all. Meredith had spent three hours picking her up and putting her back on her bike over and over until she finally rode straight across the yard, stopped without falling, and jumped into her older cousin's waiting arms. He glanced across at Jo, noticing that her eyes were wet too. She met his gaze, a small smile forming as the twins continued talking.

"Auntie 'Zona fixed my belly when my appendix burst."

"Yeah, and her and Auntie Callie took us to see the fireworks when Mommy and Daddy were working, remember?"

"Oh yeah!"

Even without saying it, Alex knew that Jo was thinking the same thing he was- that even if something awful happened to the two of them the next day, Janey and Adam would be okay, because they had people who loved them. They would never know what it was like to have to steal food to survive, or live out of a car because there was nowhere else to go. They would grow up knowing that they were loved and valued. They would grow up knowing that they had a family.

"Auntie Cristina sends the _best _presents."

"Yeah but we're not jerks to her so does it count?"

"I think even if we are jerks to her she'd still send good presents."

"Okay, so she's family too."

Janey sighed loudly, breaking her parents out of their distracted trance. Alex blinked a few times then looked down into his daughter's big brown eyes.

"What's up munchkin?"

"We have _so _many family I can't keep track!"

He chuckled, catching Jo wiping her eyes on her sleeve in his peripheral vision.

"Maybe we can draw a picture of them all!" Adam piped up excitedly. He moved to jump off of Jo's lap to go get his crayons, but she wrapped her arms around him with a laugh.

"I think that picture is going to have to wait until tomorrow. Right now I see two kiddos who are already late for bathtime."

"Do we have to?" Janey whined, looking pleadingly at her father. Alex nodded,

"Yeah, you stink," he said, smirking when she stuck out her tongue, "But I bet you we can beat Mommy and Adam up there."

"Excuse me?" Jo laughed.

"You heard me."

"It's on."

In what seemed like an instant Janey had climbed onto Alex's back and Adam on to Jo's, laughing wildly as their parents raced towards the stairs, reaching the bottom step at the same time and crashing into each other. As her body smashed into Alex's, Jo leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Eww!" Adam and Janey chorused in unison. Alex grinned against Jo's lips, just seconds before she shoved him away from the stairs and took off running up them with Adam cheering in victory.

"Daddy go!" Janey shrieked, squealing with joy as he bolted up the stairs after them. Her and Adam's happy screams echoed off the walls of the house, mixing with their parents laughter and the pounding of their footsteps down the hallway.

As they raced towards the bathroom Jo glanced back and caught Alex's eye, and in that moment they both realized that they finally had the one thing they had always wanted.

A family.

**A/N: So there you have it! Again, thank you to everyone who has followed this story through, you all keep me inspired to write :) I will be working on a sequel of sorts to this story which will examine more of the relationships between the different families and characters, so keep an eye out for that! I also have some more Japril and Jolex oneshots planned, so keep an eye out for those as well! :)**


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